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How-to: Swimmable mermaid tail
Published: 2009-04-06 08:41:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 113051; Favourites: 2417; Downloads: 2831
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Description
See pictures of these in my folder here .This costume is not for everyone. Only intermediate to advanced swimmers should attempt swimming in it, and always have a buddy with you. For those of you who want to know how to swim in it, my Kairi made a swimming tutorial for you. Please practice first and always stay safe.
Lots of requests for this, so here you go.
This took a lot of research online to figure out for myself and I'm sharing it for other fans. xD
The tops are not covered in the tutorial. All I did was take the swimsuit material and cover a bikini top for Kairi, making up my own pattern for it. Sora's is a surfer's rash guard I cut the bottom off, put in elastic, and added the detailing, so when we're next to each other, people can see the similar theme based off their KH2 tops.
Everyone go say hi to my amazing Kairi! She's such a good sport and willing to put up with all my costume crap, and will wear whatever I make her. She needs to get credit for being awesome. ^_^
UPDATE: For those girls wanting to know how I would make a 'naked top' Sora, SEE HERE
Kingdom Hearts and all related characters and art (c) SquareEnix and Disney
A blanket Thank You to everyone who favorited this! If you do make a tail, please post a picture cause I want to see your interpretations and designs!
edit: DeviantArt moved this deviation for me... er... thanks?
edit2: Wow, this got a daily deviation?! No way O.o
edit3: redid the tutorial so it's a little easier to read... and doesn't have spelling mistakes.
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Comments: 333
Sorry it's taken me so long to fav!! lol I tried this a week ago with my friend and they worked PERFECTLY!!!! thank you so much!! we're actually in the pool now XD
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thank you sssooo helpful me and my friend wanted to do this for a very long time
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oh this is so cool, do you mind if i use this turorial ^^ i'm thinking of making one for my pool
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These are so cool! I bet it did amaze people to see that you could actually use your cosplay tail to swim
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I can't find any swim wear fabric...
i would love a link...
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This is SO cool. I probably will never get around to making one, but... *faves*
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I want to make one~! 
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This is AMAZING! I've never seen anything so cool in my entire life!!! I've got to do this, I just HAVE to, it's so cool!!!
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you're welcome! good luck and have fun, mate!
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Also, just wondering, where did you get the monofin and how much do they cost? Thank you
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omg my friend olivia want me to make her one so bad
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I love the directions... If I had my own pool I'd make one myself. Great job though.
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So, a quick question...Why do you divide by four? I saw another tutorial that said divide by two, and I'm just confused.
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I did it by four to make the two sides symmetrical. If you follow all my steps exact, it makes sense. you take a fourth and measure it from the center line, fold on the centerline and match the two sides, which in total makes half.
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Thanks a lot!
I so wanna do an Ariel Cosplay and didn't really find a good tutorial for a fin, this helped me a lot!
I just have one question:
Do you happen to know wether and which kind of latex to use if you really want to make it a latex fin?
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it's possible, but you'd have to make a mold. water-proof latex is not cheap, and it'd have to be fitted and attached with water-proof adhesive to stay on. Plus, it would crack and wear out with use. Our tails wore out and they were fabric, which allows movement and water to pass through it instead of having to resist it.
Having worked with latex in a prosthetic production, you'd be looking at a custom job that could range from 300-1000 dollars.
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urgh >_>
I didn't know you'd have to use special latex that would cost that much...and it really wears out? well that's great -.-
Thanks a lot for telling me as I would probably pretty much have wasted my money -.-
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I'm sorry 
But water-proof latex is expensive, unfortunately...
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It's alright thanks a lot for the help!
I now considered making it out of neoprene fabric I already found a pretty cheap one (unfortunately wrong color, but I will paint it so I can add details)
Say...is that a Dean Winchester chibi you got as an icon? (wondering also because your nick is COLT - kun)
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lol no, it's Kon from superman.
But I do love Dean. He's my favorite SPN character.
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ah alright XD I wasn't sure because of the very darkish hair
and it's uber cute that you two have matching icons!
Supernatural is simply AWESOME
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hie this is gr8 but do you know how mutch it cost to get the swim fabric?
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This is really helpful!
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Amazing!!! I have got to try this out sometime!
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COOL! i think i'll do this. just one question... what's a streamline?
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I really wanna do this 
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Swim fabric ->JoAnn's fabrics, they have an online store if you don't have one near you P:
Making the pattern -> 2-4 hours, depending on if you have a friend or not helping you.
Sewing -> 1-2 hours, straight down the sides and at the top to put the elastic in. It's fairly easy.
I do commissions as well.
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Thanks! I'm really considering making one now
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I seriously want to make this and take it to my friend's pool to swim in. ;_; I wish I had enough money. -sigh- This dream will have to wait.
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would the "overcast" stitch work just as well? im not gonna use the overcast stitch 2 make this, but im planning on cutting up an old camo dress i have thts probly kinda short by now & im gonna try makin a bag out of it. lol
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this is awesome!!! im pretty advanced at swimming,and i was looking for a good cosplay XD awesome tutorial! :3
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OH I have to seriously do this for Summer!!!!
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Wow! That is completely AWESOME!!! The first time I saw a picture of the mermaid/merman tails, I thought they were professionally made/store bought tales. I'll have to try that out sometime and see how it goes, my sister would be SO amazed/partly green.
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Just finished making my pattern. It takes MUCH longer than you would expect! Prepare to give the pattern at least two to three hours of your time.
Thank you so much for putting this up. The list is much easier to follow than the videos telling you how to do this!!!!!
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yes, it does take a long time huh?! But the pattern is reusable at least. Hang on to it P:
And no problem, I hope it helps and that you enjoy your tail!
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Yeah I was expecting it to take an hour tops, yeah not so much...... But it already looks amazing. Well worth the time and effort!!
Thanks again!!!!
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